In SOD2 is there anything like the SOD1 Reflexes sweep kick takedown?

[jthibeault]

The SOD1 SOD1 Reflexes sweep kick paired with a heavy weapon was just deadly. Is there anything similar in SOD2?

[Protectron]

No, the Striking specialization has got the blunt weapon spin strike, while Bladed specialization has got a leg swipe that cuts off a single zombie's legs.

Heavy Weapons could knock down and kill numerous zombies with a well-timed regular strike. But it is still not as impressive as SoD1's roundhouse kick or leg swipe.

[jthibeault]

A Reflex character in SOD1 was almost unkillable.

I'm new to SOD2, and not quite sure that this is an 'improvement' over SOD1. have not figured out what the best combat mix is yet...

And, My God, what did they do to the vehicles? Heavy Duty Trucks seem to be powered with a 2-stroke engine. No acceleration, no handling. Driving around in SOD1 was quite the fun experience, while SOD2 is painful.

[Panic Fire]

Originally posted by jthibeault:

A Reflex character in SOD1 was almost unkillable.

I'm new to SOD2, and not quite sure that this is an 'improvement' over SOD1. have not figured out what the best combat mix is yet...

And, My God, what did they do to the vehicles? Heavy Duty Trucks seem to be powered with a 2-stroke engine. No acceleration, no handling. Driving around in SOD1 was quite the fun experience, while SOD2 is painful.

Blade Weapon
Swords

Blunt Weapons
Blunt

Heavy Weapons
Powerhouse
Endurance

[drednicolson]

One's combat "feels" harder since running out of stamina is a bigger penalty and ferals/juggs can kill you before you're completely out of health (if their pounce/grapple attacks take you to very low health, they can immediately do their kill moves, unlike in Two where you must first be out of health and in fight-for-life mash mode). But it's also easier to kill ferals (bait the pounce, dodge roll it, execute) and juggs (not as thick as in Two), and snacks are OP. :D

I'm a fan of Marathon/Stealth/Close Combat myself. CC weapons never break and the weight savings let me carry a heavier gun and keep light encumbrance. And maxed Marathon's unlimited sprint at Light weight applies to stealth sprinting, too. True ninja skillz. (Donning an all-black costume not necessary but highly recommended!).

[Le Deflagosseur]

I like acrobatics with stealth and swordplay or striking combination.

Powerhouse with discipline and endurance is also really nice.

As mention above marathon with stealth and close combat or swordplay or striking.

Edit: I also like to have a scout for sh!ts and giggles. I usually make my driver a scout to easily find freaks when I need them or a military character with backpacking and resourcefulness.

[drednicolson]

I remember when Scouting + Weapon Handling was about the only way to fully empty the 100-round clip on the Eternal Rage rifle before it jammed. :) After the recent 2x durability buff on all weapons it's kind of a moot combo now. I'm out of ammo long before my gun jams now, so I just repair at the same time I restock.

[Revan Tair]

Originally posted by drednicolson:

snip. (Donning an all-black costume not necessary but highly recommended!).

27% more stealth!

[Le Deflagosseur]

Originally posted by Revan Tair:

Originally posted by drednicolson:

snip. (Donning an all-black costume not necessary but highly recommended!).

27% more stealth!

Makes you feel*

Not sure if this was sarcasm or not so I thought i'd mention it.

[Panic Fire]

Originally posted by drednicolson:

I remember when Scouting + Weapon Handling was about the only way to fully empty the 100-round clip on the Eternal Rage rifle before it jammed. :) After the recent 2x durability buff on all weapons it's kind of a moot combo now. I'm out of ammo long before my gun jams now, so I just repair at the same time I restock.

Scouting is unfortuantly a completely useless skill now, and needs a major overhaul. You should never take scouting on a character.

[drednicolson]

Still has some niche use in higher difficulties since it lets you see individual zombies on radar again, until you have ready access to zedeye pills.

Maxing it should let you survey at ground level. :O

[Jim0000001]

Originally posted by drednicolson:

...

I'm a fan of Marathon/Stealth/Close Combat myself. CC weapons never break and the weight savings let me carry a heavier gun and keep light encumbrance. And maxed Marathon's unlimited sprint at Light weight applies to stealth sprinting, too. True ninja skillz. (Donning an all-black costume not necessary but highly recommended!).

I think fully maxed skill close combat is the most powerful combat style in the game for me. I remember sweep being awesome but I can kill zombie after zombie with maxed CC with a single button touch per kill. You also don't have to worry about your weapon breaking or having to be repaired.

[Protectron]

Originally posted by Jim0322:

Originally posted by drednicolson:

...

I'm a fan of Marathon/Stealth/Close Combat myself. CC weapons never break and the weight savings let me carry a heavier gun and keep light encumbrance. And maxed Marathon's unlimited sprint at Light weight applies to stealth sprinting, too. True ninja skillz. (Donning an all-black costume not necessary but highly recommended!).

I think fully maxed skill close combat is the most powerful combat style in the game for me. I remember sweep being awesome but I can kill zombie after zombie with maxed CC with a single button touch per kill. You also don't have to worry about your weapon breaking or having to be repaired.

Well, as long as the situation is relatively under control, Close Combat is an efficient and cheap way of killing zombies in melee. However, if you are in Nightmare Zone and are being attacked by a large Horde, some of them will stop to roar because you are constantly in a kill animation - calling in more zombies - and you will be unable to kill them fast enough to actually kill them all. Then things become out of control really quickly.

As such, Close Combat does not bail you out of a really bad situation. Swordplay does. Heavy Melee and Blunt may bail you out of difficult situations, but, like Close Combat, aren't actually effective enough to do so when mayhem occurs.

The three most effective ways of getting out of pure mayhem are: 1) get in your car and drive away/smash them with it, 2) shooting suppressed with a high-capacity gun, 3) Swordplay. There is a fourth as well... quit to main menu and return... but that is eeeeh!

[Panic Fire]

Originally posted by drednicolson:

Still has some niche use in higher difficulties since it lets you see individual zombies on radar again, until you have ready access to zedeye pills.

Maxing it should let you survey at ground level. :O

The vast majority of Scouting's utility was simply added to the players basic UI as a quality of life update. More than half of the original skill doesn't do anything as all characters can do it by default. And while the scouting seems nice, its rarely truely useful and if you really want it, its readily available as a hero bonus, or ally bonus. Honestly scouting is super lackluster and you should always choose a different Wits specialization.

Wits

For Combat
Discipline (more light carry capacity (meshes well with marathon) 25% less durability loss on melee hits, and +15 stamina on a melee kill as well as the most bonus stamina to fuel even more fighting

For Utility
Resourcefullness An additional inventory slot, Extra Consumable stacks, and reduce consumable weight letting you carry even more. As well as crossbow bolt recovery.

For Speed
Stealth, lower chance of search crash, can sprint in stealth, and faster stealth takedown animations. As well as lock picking doors for quiet entries. Going quiet is often faster than going loud, and Stealth basically makes you a super speedy character for gathering.

Scouting only has enemy's show up on radar and less durability loss pershot with a gun, however with the gun buff that isn't important anymore either. As well as its now defunct container visibility range. As of now, Scouting really only gives you enemy detection on a character which is simply not that useful. Its just a waste of a skill specalization.

Acrobatics and Scouting are pretty much the two dump skills in the game that you should never take over the other specializations.